Wuji Equipment Deputy Editor丨Wang Peng
As a wildlife photographer, the Four Treasures of Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi are one of the series I mainly shoot. Today I will share with you the stories of the cute little guys who are shooting one of the Four Treasures of Qinling Mountains and those mountains who are living in the Qinling Mountains.
As Canon EOS R series cameras and lenses continue to be updated, my shooting equipment has also been updated. When it comes to equipment, I hope that the camera and lens can be faster, more accurate, lighter, anti-shake and better picture quality. Canon R series products can also meet my needs for equipment.
For this shooting, I used three full-frame bodies: Canon EOS R3, EOS R5, and EOS R6. The lenses are RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM, RF 1200mm F8 L IS USM and EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM lenses.
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022 Russian International Nature Photography Beetle Award (Golden Tuetle) Silver Award
2021 won the championship of the National Wildlife Photography Competition (NWPC) Animal Cub Group in the United States
57 UK International Wildlife Photography Year Competition (WPY) People's Choice Award
2019 won the Best Nature Photography Award (NBPA) The LUMIX Award
2016 National Geographic Global Photography Competition Nature Third Prize
2014 National Geographic Global Photography Competition Nature Third Prize
EOS R5 RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM F9.0 1/6400S ISO2500
Red crane is an ancient species and is known as the "Oriental Gem". After the 20th century, the wild population of red-crowned cranes was on the verge of extinction. In May 1981, experts discovered seven wild red-crowned cranes in Yang County, Shaanxi Province, in the hinterland of the Qinling Mountains, and the Qinling Mountains became the "Noah's Ark" of the red-crowned cranes. After more than 40 years of scientific exploration and protection practice, the global population of red-crowned cranes has expanded from 7 in 1981 to more than 9,000 at present.
During the shooting process, we found that the phenomenon of fighting among the red-crowned cranes also occurred frequently. You often see strong male red-crowned crane flapping its wings and screaming at the opponent, with great momentum. As government protection work strengthens and red-crowned crane population increases, the phenomenon of land competition among red-crowned cranes also frequently occurs. In the picture below, the eye-controlled focus of the EOS R3 camera is combined with a 100-500mm lens. The focus is quickly aimed at and locked on the red crane (right) with flapping its wings, taking a rare and exciting moment.
EOS R3 RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM F7.1 1/640S ISO1000
The river channel is the main habitat of the red-crowned crane. The red-crowned crane will look for food and rest in the riverside, and the cattle that are freely raised by the local villagers are also eating grass nearby. In this way, humans and the red-crowned crane live in harmony in the same space, forming a balance that is non-interference.
EOS R3 EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM F5.6 1/1000S ISO100
High-speed continuous shooting is a very important indicator for wildlife shooting. Only high-speed continuous shooting can record more exciting moments. The continuous shooting speed of Canon EOS R3 30 pictures/second brought more surprises to my shooting.
is quite difficult to shoot wild animals in the forest. For example, the red and white squirrel in the picture below. Although it was a sunny day with blue sky and white clouds that day, the light in the dense forest was also very poor. At noon, I used a Canon EOS R6+RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens to shoot handheld. It may be hard for you to imagine that in such weather, in order to ensure that the picture will not fade due to the high-speed movement of the red and white squirrels, my sensitivity has been set to 2500 to ensure the shutter speed of 1/500th of the second. I have to like the tolerance and anti-shake performance of the EOS R6, which made me still perfect when shooting a 100-500mm zoom lens with the handheld focal length stretched to 500mm.
Red and white squirrel EOS R6 RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM F7.1 1/500S ISO2500
And during the shooting of the squirrel, the 45-megapixel EOS R5 and the DIGIC X digital image processor with high-speed data processing capabilities are also amazing.
Canis EOS R5 RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM F7.1 1/640S ISO1000
Local enlargement
One day a villager told me that there was a flying animal on the big tree behind his yard. I was curious to wait by the tree hole for more than an hour. When I was about to give up. Suddenly, a gray-headed squirrel ran out of the hole, watched and left quickly. Here I will talk about the Canon EOS R6 automatic focus frame covering 100% of the area and the high-speed focus and focus mode, which allows me to easily use the Canon EOS R6+ RF100-500mm lens, capturing the moment it glided by.
Gray-headed squirrel EOS R6 RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM F7.1 1/1250S ISO800
On the way to find the red-crowned crane, it started to rain lightly on the Qinling Mountains that day, and the car could only drive slowly. Suddenly we saw a pair of blood pheasant in the distance looking for food. It was time to say that, so I picked up the camera and started shooting. A "shuttle" continued to shoot at high speed. The bloody pheasant, disturbed by the sound of cars, quickly crawled into the forest, and I had already taken the film I wanted. Quick start, quick focus, high-speed continuous shooting, these series of operations are completed in a very short time.
Blood Pheasant EOS R3 RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM F7.1 1/640S ISO1600
It is very difficult to shoot wild animals in the mountains. You often have to shuttle through the rainforest, climb on the mountains, and walk on the ground for a long time. In addition to carrying the necessary photography equipment, each person also needs to carry more necessary daily necessities. Under such a weight-bearing situation, after we discover the traces of wild animals, we need to quickly debug the camera lens and prepare for shooting.
Therefore, the lightweight and powerful Canon EOS R series equipment has naturally become the preferred equipment for shooting wild animals, and they have naturally become my most stable and powerful photography weapon.
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edit | Bi Chao
picture provided | Zhang Qiang
